Transcripts For CSPAN Key Capitol Hill Hearings 20150206

Thank you very much. Thank you for encouraging messages. This really rings back the United States as a world leader. My question is about our part of the world. We have a very large scale cassis crisis around the ukraine. To my knowledge, in moscow, there are talks on a possible new deal. According to the leaked information, i do not know to what extent this information is correct, the subject of the talks can be ukraines neutrality, or a ceasefire along the new contact line inside the ukraine state. If it is done, then we are talking about freezing of the conflict zone. Also, we are talking trying to get the ukraine and friends to drop orientation. How do you think this strategy, which is very nicely developed and design, can act quickly and efficiently . And to protect freedom of choice of those in the neighborhood of russia . I think it is way too soon to make judgments on what may be on the table in moscow today. Our german and french allies are in moscow. I have been in close contact with their National Security advisers today and yesterday and earlier in the week. What they are bringing with them to moscow reflects their agreement with president bush and g they are not out there unilaterally cutting a deal with cute and at ukraines with purtin at ukraines expense. We have to see how this evolves. Certainly, it is and i do not prematurely expect a success or certain outcome. In the broadest sense, our approach to your region is to stand strongly by our ho allies. And make clear that article five of nato is viable, we need to uphold our obligations in the most serious way. We are building the capacity of nato, not only to defend its own territory, but to support and grow its relationships with other countries in the neighborhood. Including your own. This strategy is about strengthening and deepening. Our oldest and most fundamental allies in europe. And to make very clear that aggressions in the 21st century will, great cost come at great cost, and will not be tolerated or w upheld. We are connie constantly revisiting with our european allies how to best approach this challenge and how to support, not only the people and government of ukraine, but our partners throughout eastern europe. Likes were running out of time. Two questions from two of your former colleagues. Uhoh. Susan, it is great to see you back on our stage. I just had a chance to glance through the document. You talk in here about five his story transitions going on in the world that the United States would like to influence the trajectory. One of which is the struggle for power underway in the middle east. This includes the struggle between citizens and governments to redefine their relationships. It strikes me that throughout the document, there is a connection between domestic governance and strong institutions transparency, responsibility, security. In the middle east, we find face at him in challenge bouncing the shortterm security imperatives with longterm recognition of the relationship between Good Governance and inclusion, and rights respecting governance, and security. I think my question is how does the United States in 10 to address this consistent dilemma between shortterm and longterm imperatives and the middle east . At a moment when our partners are saying this is not the time to push for change and reform, this is the time to trying keep control. Thank you. We will just take the last one from tom. Tom rice. Thank you. You spoke in a speech, but also in the document, about how rational is not an existential threat. It has committed crimes in ukraine, and then an aggression there. Puritan very much sees himself in a cold war with europe. I was just wondering what specific challenges posed like a major power like russia over the next five or 10 years. What things were you about what they might do and how it might escalate either on the cohort front or economic . And how should the u. S. Respond . To easy questions. Let me start here and come back. I think first of all, that is not exactly what i said. The broad question about how we deal with russia there is no question that and aggressive russia is taking territory from its neighbors. It is a of grave concern and at the forefront of our focus and agenda. No question. Having said that, the tools that we will employ to counter and tried to roll back that aggression are not necessarily in every respect militarize tools. In this case, we have relied on alliances and partnerships to impose costs, support your crane support ukraine, and recognize in this way first century, where the vast majority of nations stand for upholding basic International Laws and norms and find outside of those laws and norms to roll in and take portions of your neighbor. Russia is paying and a cost. Over the long torn, longterm, if these choices are sustained, the cost will mount. It is hard to dispute that in reality, even if in the shortterm russias behavior has not demonstrably change, the Economic Impact of the choices it has made are having a major effect on its economy and will continue to have a major, and growing, affect on its economy. The variety of tools that we have at our disposal, economic and otherwise, are ones that we will continue to use along with our traditional tools. To reinforce our collective opposition to this type of behavior. I do not think it is correct to suggest the minimizing threat of this effect of this threat. It is one that we will address. Turning to your question tomorrow, i think is one of the most challenging ones we face. There is no question that in the middle east, we are challenged by shortterm and longterm imperatives that we have to wrestle with. When the president spoke at the United Nations in 2013, he talked and very direct terms about our core interest in the middle east. He outlined four. colleagues like you did not like that. I do not mean to put words in your mouth, but it was sufficient emphasis on democracy and human rights. It focused on counterterrorism and weapons of mass upholding the security and integrity of our partners and allies. And ensuring Energy Security and the free flow of energy. I think the point being, we do have some overriding core interest. That is not to say, and i think i said this in my remarks that we do not need and wish to help support and build a middle east that is far more democratic, respectful of human rights, and one in which women and all citizens of the region are able to enjoy the same rights that we hold dear. That is the objective. We think that such societies are more stable. They are more just. They are better partners. They are better able to confront the kind of security challenges that we face today. It is a very difficult thing, as we have seen over the last several years, to succeed in those types of transitions. While, at the same time, dealing with some very real, both internal and external security threats. I think any vessel be oversimplifying to suggest that there is an easy onesizefitsall answer. We are having to approach this challenge differently from egypt to bahrain, to saudi arabia. That does not suggest that we have less commitment to, or our interests. As i said in my remarks, many of these transitions, and many of the changes we see seek to implement will not come at quickly. We will have to manage these tensions. Susan, it has been five years since we had a document like this. You guys now get to dissect it. I am member how much fun i had with other peoples National Security reports. This will provoke debate and discussion. An analysis and a section. We are grateful for you to you for that and for coming in launching this here. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. [applause] the National Security secretary laying out the president s National Security strategy. If you missed any of her comments you can see them at cspan. Org. Also, new this afternoon from capitol hill that alan nunnelee, the mississippi republican, part of the historic 2010 gop wave that gate Party Control of the house, died today. The family confirmed that he was 56. He was serving his third term. Here are undergone brain surgery last june, had been in and out of hospitals and Rehabilitation Centers. He was hospital hospitalized again in december. He took the oath of office. Alan nunnelee died today in mississippi at the age of 56. And just a moment, we will take you live to indiana. To indianapolis. This is the Ivy Tech Community college. President obama expected here shortly. The indiana store writing that the indiana stock continues the National Tour that the president launched after his announcement on Free Community college during the state of the Union Address. Here is what he had to say during that speech. [applause] america lies in the 20th century because we may high school free. Sent gis to college. Train the best workforce in the world. We were ahead of the curve. Other countries caught on. In the 20th in a 21stcentury economy that rewards more than other ever, we need to do more. In this decade, two and three job openings will require some Higher Education. Yet, we still live in a country where it too many bright Young Americans are left out of the education they need. It is not fair to them. It is sure not smart far future. Thats why i am sending this congress a bold new plan to lower the cost of Community College. 20. To zero. [applause] keep in mind, 40 of our College Students choose Community College. Some are young and starting out. Some are older and looking for better jobs. Some are veterans. Single parents. Try to transition back into the job market. Whoever you are, this plan is your chance to graduate, ready for the new economy without debt. Understand, you have to earn it. You had keep your grades up and graduate on time. Tennessee, estate with Republican Leadership, and chicago, a city with democratic leadership are showing that Free Community college is possible. I want to spread the idea across all of america. With two years of college becomes as free and universal in america as high school is today. [applause] lets stay ahead of the curve. [applause] i want to work with this congress to make sure that those already burdened with Student Loans can reduce their payments. Student debt does not need to derail anyones dream. [applause] thanks to Vice President bidens great work to update our training system, we are connecting Community College is with local employers to train students in high paying like nursing and robotics. We are also at more businesses to follow the lead of Companies Like cp cvs and ups and offer more paid apprentices shohips. President obama couple of weeks ago at the state of the Union Address. Vice President Biden will miss israelis prime ministers address to congress. The Vice President s office says that they expect him to be traveling abroad. We are live here in indianapolis, indiana. The president is expected to talk more about his plan their about Community College. Part of that plan would include two free years of Community College for people with and at least 2. 5 gpa. We will hear more on that from the president when this gets underway. In the meantime, part of the conversation from this mornings washington journal. Host representative john fleming, republican from louisiana. Member of the senate armed centers Senate Armed Services committee. There is the republican study group. What is that . Guest that began about one decade ago or so. More conservative members of the house, back in the new green bridge days back in the new greenwich days started to form a group. Many things came out of it. There was welfare reform. The committee has grown. It is more than half, a majority of the majority of the house. Over the years. Also with that, it became a bit more nimble than it was in the early days. As you know, we have now formed the House Freedom caucus. Many of us who are in a have moved over to replicate the success that he had in the early days. Host what is the difference . You have different issues, different positions . Guest the rs since it has grown so large, many people have joined it because it is under the banner of conservatives oism. Being conservative is a very popular brand in washington and in america, but often times, we have members who are in terms of their voting records, are not as conservative as the house many was the we should be. The House Freedom caucus is those of us who are more conservative by record and by vote and have decided to go our own way. Some of us have left the rsc. Some of us have remain members. We think we can be more nimble, and persuasive to anchor the House Republicans in a much more conservative manner. Host have you left the rfc . Guest i have not. Host how a doing in your view . Guest i think he and i have differences. More on taxes tactics than policy. We have had a little bit of a rough start. Some hills that should have been brought up have not. I do not blame him for that. I think that is a problem that we need to resolve. We need to bring it back up. We need to resolve any kind of differences that occur there. It is important to protect our babies, still in the womb, who may be dismembered through abortion. A very painful process. We know since science, because we execute surgery on fetuses, that they do feel pain and need to be honest easy as and the if you do an abortion on that child, it will be a very gruesome process and painful. Very few product countries allow that. Westbound what do you think of your overall Leadership Team . Guest i think they are very fine group. They do a good job. Again, they find the middle of our conference. I tend to be on the conservative side. I like to see more conservative ideas, concepts, and tactics. I understand that they have a tough job. We are always trying to find that 218. 218 votes to get things passed. It is a difficult job. I support them in that effort. We have a good conversation. In fact, members of the House Freedom caucus met with Kevin Mccarthy a couple of nights ago. We talked about a couple of these things. I think the leadership will work with us. Host we just had Donna Edwards on. The last call for hurricane from virginia. The caller told his story and the fact that he got Health Care Via the Affordable Care act. For the first time in his life. He was scared that the republicans will take that away. What is the alternative . In your view. Guest we have a number of alternatives. Despite what as edwards said, we have actual put them in bill for. I would be happy to supply that to her. I was part of a working group last year. Part of the Republican Study Committee that created a replacement for obamacare. Democrats and republicans alike i think every american really has the same goals when it comes to health care. That is to get coverage for people who have preexisting illnesses, to be sure that there is more access to health care, but i think the approach is completely different between republicans and democrats. For democrats under obamacare, the approach has been, and i point you to steven brill. We take a very unworkable Healthcare System that is a expensive today and lower on layer on top of it at huge government bureaucracy, which only makes it more expensive. What we would much rather do is begin to reform the insurance system to make at competitive system. Tear down those walls from state to state. Reform medical melt activist. Malpractice. Get the cost down. We can then help those through tax credits or providing cash through their savings account and let them manage their own lives. Our ideas to lower the cost of health care, and therefore it becomes more attractive. And patient centered health care not a government run system. We would not take Health Care Away from anybody. In fact, when i ran for congress in 2000 eight, it was to Reform Health care. Again, using good Market Solutions that work and other industry. Why in the world would we want to ignore what works . While there are few people who benefit from obamacare, there are Many Americans who are seeing their premiums go up 300 , their deductible 300 . Many americans are being hurt by this law. New taxes, premiums skyrocketing. What we are worrying about is that while some may be getting more health care, many others are actually losing their health care. And remember, most of those new lead covered people are under medicaid. Fewer doctors than ever are except yet as payment. Where do these people go . They go to the emergency room. The very last place, and the most expensive place. Host you mention the founder of court tv, steven brill. Guest he is very correct in his discussion that there is nothing in obamacare that lowers costs. In fact, the big insurance companies, they all came together with some of the architects and wrote the bill. The exchange was that if you let government run your business and exchange we will give you a bigger boost the business. This is cronyism. Host in fact, Steven Brills book will be on book tv this weekend. If you want to see what he is talking about, you will see it there. You are on the Armed Service committee, i want to ask you about obama seeking approval to fight militants. In days, they will seek authorization, and kick off a political fight that may see members clash over how much authority to give the president. Would you vote to give the president the authority . Guest i would have to see it. It depends. I have been very dissatisfied with the president s approach on this. For instance, he came up with what i think is an insane idea to fund the socalled free syrian army, who we do not even know if there is such a ring. Even he criticize them. The number may be 5000. It may take three years training in kuwait to go up against what . You do not even hear anyone talking about that anymore. I do think the president should request an authorization to go to battle. The old ones are old. We did not even have isis the last time we passed one here in congress. The question is is it the right kind of plan . If there is one that i think of common sense, it makes sense provides for america taking a leadership role, or at least a strong support of role to other nations. Yes, i would support it. If it is the same kind of we welcome the president of the United States to indianapolis. Mr. President , in your first days in office you created and crew a Good Relationship with those of us from indianapolis. And 2010, more than 20 million in funding poured into our city to complete the indianapolis cultural trail. This has sense bird hundreds of millions of dollars in new development. In 2014, when we brought a proposal for the nations all electric Rapid Transit line, your team was there to assist. At the state level, i know the governor has worked with you to introduce a new plan, and affordably affordable Insurance Program for many people right here in our county. Finally, the city has worked to halt the disturbing product pattern of violence that has robbed a whole generation of young people. My brothers Keeper Initiative is more than welcome. By working together, we are better equipped to provide high quality three k through upperlevel education. You have continued to shape indianapolis into a thriving city. It has been a great honor and privilege to work with you on so many important programs. Despite the fact that you are a Chicago Bulls fan it is with great enthusiasm that i welcome you to the city of indianapolis. Ladies and gentlemen, please help me in welcoming the president , barack obama. [applause] thank you, everybody. [applause] hello, hoosiers. Everybody, have a seat. Let me begin by saying thank you to marry ballard for the introduction. For all the great work you are doing for the people of indianapolis. And for your service as a marine. We are very proud of the partnership that we have had with the city. I also want to recognize the ivy tech chancellor. Where are they . [applause] some outstanding members of congress, our senator, where is he . Congressman andre carson. [applause] and somebody who has been a great friend for the people of the state and nation. A great friend to me personally. One of the people who has ensure that america is safe for so many years, former senator and mayor of indianapolis a cis. [applause] on the way over here, we were reminiscing about the first foreign trip i ever took, it was with takeover, the cooper. We went to russia. He had recently written a book on it. He seems like a kind of relaxed guy, but if you go on a trip with him, he will wear you out. At one point, we were actually held by a russian colonel at the airport for about three hours. Normally, it might have made people nervous. Dig, he has been around the block a few times, so he just took a knot. It was fine. It is great to be back in indiana. It is great to be back close to my home state. I respect the pacers. [laughter] yes, i am a bull fan. I make no apologies. We have some fierce rivalry. Im looking forward to mr. George and others getting back on track so we can have some more playoff runs. Thats not all that i know about the state. One of my first trips as president was to indiana. I stop by some of your manufacturing plants. I played three on three in a school up in kokomo. My team won, by the way. When it comes to elections, i am betting 500. I am 142. That is not bad. [applause] last time, i will knowledge, i got kind of smoked here in indiana. That is ok. That is exactly why i wanted to come back. I do not plan to take too long in the front. I want to make sure we have some time for questions. When i gave my state of the Union Address a couple weeks ago. I repeated a vision that i originally laid out over a decade ago. That was the vision that said there is no liberal america or conservative america. There is the United States of america. I know that sometimes it seems our politics are more divided than ever, that in parts of indiana, the only lou you will see is on coke signs. And in chicago, the only red you will see is on both signs. But, we express so much more in common than not. That does not always get focused on in our politics. I have seen so much of the good, generous optimism in the country over the past six years to give into the cynicism that sometime is peddled as wisdom around the country. We have come a long way these past six years since we suffered the worst financial crisis since the great depression. This morning, we found out that american businesses added another 260,000 jobs. [applause] in 2014, our economy created more than 3. 1 million jobs. That is the best year of job growth since the 1990s. [applause] all told, over the past 59 months, the private sector has added about 11 million 11. 8 million, almost 12 million jobs. That is the longest streak of privatesector job growth in our history. Meanwhile, our deficits are shrinking. They have gone down by about two thirds. Our dropout rates are down. Our graduate Graduation Rates are. We are more free of foreign oil and we had been in 30 years. We have doubled the amount of clean energy that we are producing. A lot of families are saving a lot of money at the gas pump. That is putting some miles on some folks cars. And [laughter] youre welcome. [applause] although i was telling someone to other day, at some point they will go back out. Dont start you know, going out there and ignoring the mileage when youre buying a new car. You have to keep looking for those savings. In the single most hopeful sign for families, wages are starting to go up again. [applause] america is poised for another good year. Indianapolis is poised for another good year. As long as washington works to keep this progress going. I was struck as i was listening to the merits introduction. Here in indiana, weve been able to do some good things because we have not been so worried about democratrepublican. We focus more and getting the job done. That attitude is that attitude were open to washington trying to adapt that same attitude when it comes to the problems that we face going forward. Dick was a great example of that. We have risen from recession for you to write our own future, that any nation on earth. We have to make good decisions as to what that future looks like. Will we be a nation where a few of us do spectacularly well and everybody out is struggling to get by . Or will we have a country in which everybody has opportunity . Everybody has a chance to succeed. Last year, i got a letter from julian mill hand, who lives ou up where is julian . Jillian has four kids. That means she is busy. For 14 years, she was a stayathome mom. She was going through a divorce had to find a way to support her family, did not have a college degree. Most of the jobs that she found paid minute minimum wage. As she put it, i was a mother of four kids, and i had everything against me. She came here to i detect, invested in herself to learn skills. She paid her way with a grant from her country, and a grant from the state of indiana. She made the deans list, earned us on the radiography program. And that today, she is a few months from graduating. She is ready to get started on a new career. [applause] in the letter she wrote, she said, it is not just the possibility of Financial Security and career advancement, it is also something i can show my children. It is about pride. It is about being able to point to a Brighter Future for the next generation. That is who i get up for every single day. Sometimes you will ask me, mr. President , your hair is so great. Folks are always talking about you. Not always in the most flattering way. How do you do it . The reason is folks like julian. Who are out there, all across indiana, all across the country working so hard and doing the right thing. Not asking for a handout. They just want to make sure that if theyre putting in effort that they can get ahead. We cannot do it for them. We can help. We can create structures of opportunity, like we have here at ivy tech. That is something we can do for everybody. That is what keeps you going. I want to make sure that this is a country where hard work is rewarded. And that you get a chance to make a decent living. That is what ive been calling middle class economics what its all about. The idea that in this country everyone does their best when everyone is doing their fair share, and everyone has a fair shot, and is playing by fair rules. We live in a time of constant change. Technique technology has made some jobs obsolete. Some jobs have been shifted overseas. It is tougher to afford necessities like child care or health care. That has been true since long before the financial crisis hit in two of an 72008. That is why at a time when the economy is finally picking of steam and growing, we have to work twice as hard, especially in washington, to help more americans like julian. This week, i sent congress a budget that is build on this idea middle class economics for the 21st century. It means helping middleclass families affords child care and health care, afford College Without taking on a lot of debt paid leave at work, helping firsttime homebuyers, helping people face retirement. My budget faces each of these issues, and could put money back in the pockets of middleclass families. [applause] middle class economics also means helping more people like julian upgrade her skills. This competitive economy is not going to get easier. Folks are not going to be in the same job for 30 years. These young people here today, they will have a bunch of different jobs. They will there will be the need for you to continually upgrade your skills. It is about lifelong learning. Not just a onetime deal. That is why my budget makes two years of Community College free for every student. [applause] here in america, it should not matter how much money your folks make. If you are willing to work hard, you should be a will get the opportunity. You should not necessarily have hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt when you leave. Especially if you will go into professionally teaching. We are not just working to make Community College free. We want to make our Community Colleges even better, and more attuned to what is going on in the marketplace. Right here, at the school, one of the best in this country, not just in indiana [applause] you are finding ways to raise Graduation Rates, and partner with businesses, provide apprentices ships and in fields that pay well like construction and technology. Middle class economics also means that we are investing in what makes our economy grow. Better roads, faster internet, cutting edge research, that our businesses are creating highpaying jobs. The good news is that we can afford to pay for all this. We do not have to add to our deficit if we have some smart spending cuts, and if we fix the tax code that is filled with loopholes and kickbacks for folks who do not need them. [applause] in my budget, i identify some of these. There is a trust Fund Loophole that allows the wealthiest 1 of americans, who have benefited more over the last 20 years than anybody when the economy has been growing, this allows them to avoid paying taxes on their unearned income. That is not something that jillian, when she gets her job is going to be able to do. People here cannot avoid paying taxes. I do not know why the folks who are most able to pay them should be able to avoid them. We need to fix that. Then, we can use the savings to cut taxes for middleclass families who really need it. [applause] we know that there are companies that have stashed about 2 trillion overseas. They have not paid u. S. Taxes. Lets close those loop poles loopholes. Lets make it more attractive for people to relocate the united of america. They will create jobs right here in indianapolis, right here in indiana. As opposed to giving people tax breaks for sending money overseas. We can do that. [applause] these are ideas that are pretty common sense. Now, in washington, folks solve the budget. They said, these are obamas plans. Some of them are good ideas, but they will not go any place. Thats because the republicans controlled congress, and they will not do it. I am not pushing these ideas for my sake. Im pushing them because i think this is where America Needs to go, and we should have a healthy debate about how to do the things that arent necessary to help america grow. Republicans and democrats will not agree on everything. That is fine. We should agree on the stuff that we are talking about now. We should agree that hard hardworking families should be able to get childcare that is not more expensive than sending a kid to college. [applause] we should agree that somebody like julian, who wants to better herself, should be able to go to College Without being loaded up with even more debt. We should be able to agree that a great city like indianapolis needs to keep its infrastructure in good shape and order to attract new businesses. So that they feel confident that they can get their products and services out to markets, and that we have the best trained workforce in the world. That is what will make Companies Want to locate here. Those are things that we can agree on. We should agree that the tax code should be fair. And that nobody should be treated better just because they have better accounts are lawyers. If republicans disagree with the way that im trying to solve these problems, they should put for their own plans. I happy to look at it. What we can do is ignore the problems created and pretend that they do not matter. Pretend that families are not out there struggling to do their best. I believe in it crazy thing that sickdick once said, that the other party may have good ideas. That is shocking. [applause] i know mayor ballard believes the same thing. I certainly do. Lets roll up our sleeves and Work Together and try to get some stuff done. That is what all of you elected us to do. Not just turn everything into a washington food fight. Not to refight old partisan battles. Lets have a debate that is worthy of this country and build on economy that is picking up steam, and make sure that it is serving everybody. That prosperity is broadbased. That not only everybody sharing in americas success, but everyone is contributing to americas success. That is what we are trying to do. That is what is on my mind now. I want to hear what is on your mind. We will start taking some questions. The way this will work is it will be simple. You raise your hands, i call on you. If you could stand up and introduce yourself, try to keep your question relatively short. I will try key might answer relatively short. In fact, the only rule that i will impose is i will go girlboygirlboy. Make sure it is even and fair. Lets get started. Who wants to go first . This young lady right here. Hi, i am erica walsh of the College Democrats of indiana. I would like to hear how you think offering two years of freak me college will impact for your universities . I think a lot of full flow still use the traditional pathway of going to a fouryear university. If that is your best option, god bless you. That is great. There will always be a market for Indiana University or notre dame. It is not like suddenly people will stop when to go there. What the two years of free me college potentially does is for somebody who is cashstrapped their best option may be, let me go get two years in a Community College i may at that point have artie got in the training that i need to go on the workforce, and get a good paying job. Or, if i decide i want to continue with my education, i can now transfer to a four Year Institution with those credits which means that the amount of tuition i am paying at the fouryear university will be reduced. Either way, you are saving money. This is part of what we need to do. To be more creative about how young people get the skills that they need without spending as much money, or taking on as much debt. This is the only kind of thing is not the only kind of thing were looking at. For example, i think ivy tech is looking at this sort of partnership with high schools. A number of to me college is now our linking up with are now linking up with high schools so you can start taking College Credits and high schools, so that anytime you get the Community College, you are you have some credits. This reduces the amount of time you need to spend and the comedic college, that will save you money to. The point is, we have is very rigid system. We have this image in our head you go to high school, then right away you go to a fouryear university. Instead, what we should be thinking about is how we create from the time you are in ninth grade, until you have a job, how do we make sure you are able to get the best skills possible at the cheapest cost. If there are faster pathways to doing that lets use those faster pathways. If there are cheaper pathways, lets find ways to reduce costs. Lets use technology in some cases. Online learning is Getting Better and better. Are there ways in which particularly for someone who is saying, mom, and has an ear regular schedule, and cannot be on campus all day are there ways that she can get some credits walls still looking after a family . Or working parttime . We just have to be much more creative about these issues. The one thing, in addition to being creative, we have to remember that state legislators have a responsibility to make sure that state institutions are still getting the support that they need. Part of what is happening [applause] part of the reason that the cost of Higher Education has gone up so rapidly it is that state support for those institution has gone down. Or it has not kept up with inflation. So what happens is when administrators have to make up for it they raise tuition. State legislators have the upper responsibly to be more efficient. Students and parents, we have the responsibility to be smart. I joke with melia and sasha because melia is around the age of looking at college. I say, everyone is looking for fancy jensen gourmet food. Expensive dorms. Let me tell you, when i was in college i started at occidental college, there was a gym but the weight room was there was like a medicine ball [laughter] it was not fancy. It was not stateoftheart. The cafeteria i do not remember some of the stuff that they serve, but it was not that appetizing. There was something on the menu that we called roast beef, we cannot really tell what kind of mean it was. It was some sort of meat product. So students and parents have to be better consumers. Universities have severe out how to be more efficient. And also give information to young people ahead of time. Part of what happens these days is in recruiting students, they say, dont worry about it, you will be able to afford it. Its true that in part we have extended hell grants and eliminated the bank middleman. A lot of people are able to finance college who could not both before. But, when you get out, you may have a 60,000 or 80,000 bill. That is a problem. We at the provide more information. But ultimately, state legislators have to step up. The federal government will do its part. We have expanded the support we will give students. But, these institutions have an obligation. And it is a good investment. It is true, not just in this country, but across the world. [applause] it is a germans turn. This young man right here. White shirt. How loud are you . Can you dish out . No. Hi, i am mario. I am a student here at ivy tech. My question is if Community College becomes free it to you become think the value of an associate street degree will jot . Absolutely not. I have been asked this question before, and i do not know where it is coming from. I will give you an example. There is a college in new york called city college of new york. And back in the, you know, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, the city college of new york produced as many Nobel Laureates as a lot of ivy league schools. It was free. But it was considered one of the best universities in the country, one of the best College Systems in the country. Nobody thought, because you went to the city colleges, and it did not cost you any money, that somehow the education was devalued. So the issue is not whether you are how much money you are paying. The issue is what that education is providing your. You. The reputation of the school is going to be determined by, when the graduates, out, do they have the skills they need to do the job . And if they do, employers are going to know it, because employers are hungry for wellqualified students. I cannot tell you how many businesses i talked to where they say, our biggest problem is, we cannot find enough workers who are trained in the fields that we are searching for. So dont let anybody think that paying more means of better education. A better education. One thing we do have to think about, and this is where Community Colleges can be an outstanding bridge, is making sure that we are reaching out to businesses and finding out, what do they need for the positions they are hiring . And having those businesses help committee colleges Design Training programs and departments to serve those needs. And we are seeing a lot more work done by Community Colleges on that front. A tech school does a great job in a pretty ships with a partnership with the labor council. That is another example of smart education. Turns out the average apprentice gets a 50,000 starting salary once they get out of an apprenticeship, on average across the country. So we are doing a lot to encourage schools to expand apprenticeships and partnerships. Do not think paying more is better. Paying less is better. [laughter] [applause] i am i am always looking for a deal. All right. Yes, right there. Mike is coming right there. Hold on, amy. Sure, thank you. My name is amy saxton. I paid for my daughters college. I am now saving for my children with a 529 lan. Do you see any changes that might impact me as i go into retirement . President obama we initially looked at changing the 529 plan. And the reason is that i have 529s for both malia and sasha. For those who are not familiar, five to nine is basically a savings account you can put in taxfree up to a certain amount for savings for your childs college. The problem is when you looked at the statistics, the folks who use them most is folks who were a little more on the highend. A lot of people could not use them because they just were not generating enoughs ratings to be able to take advantage of the benefit. And so our thinking was, you could save money by eliminating the 529 and shifting it into some other loan programs that would be more broadly based. But i think enough people and we were going to hold harmless folks like you and me who already have money in a ive 29, so it was not like suddenly you had to start paying taxes on it. Just going forward, we were going to change it. There were a lot of people who were already utilizing 529 class that started feeling as if changing like this in midstream, even if i am not affected right now i like the program. It was not worth it for us to eliminate it. The savings were not that great. So we actually based on response, changed our minds, and were going to be paying for the two years of Free Community college with other sources including some of the tax loopholes we are closing. The short answer to your question is, 529s will not change at this point. [applause] a gentleman has a question right here. He is waving and everything. It is going to be a good one. It is with the indiana pacers. President obama good to talk to you. Basketball is really important to the state. This is indiana. Years ago, on a radio show, you told me, when i asked you about your game you said you were a poor mans hey sean printz. A poor mans prince. Who are you today . And tamika says she is ready one on one any time you want. [applause] president obama let me make a couple of points. First of all she refereed the game we played. When it comes to me playing her oneonone, i am not sure. My game is a little broke. I mean up, a little bit. What happens is, sort of the riskreward ratio starts shifting. Like the chances of an achilles tear or an acl injury is increasing each month. And then the satisfaction that i get from playing diminishes, because i am so bad. And so i think golf, likelihood of injury much lower. I still love the game. This is a good time for me to give a shout out to the nba. Mayor ballard mentioned the work he is doing with my brothers keepers. This is something we initiated in response to all the negative news that we were hearing about young africanamerican men and young latino men, and their interactions with police. We said, there are a bunch of issues we have to deal with on the criminal justice side. But we have to have an affirmative agenda to make sure that young people feel hope and opportunity, and pathways. And so [applause] the idea of my brothers keepers is, we are working with the private sector and Public Sector all across the country on mentorship programs, with mayors, talking to folks about doing a zero to three program. We know that if you invest early in young people, they are much more likely to succeed in school. We know there are certain points in time when kids are more likely to drop out, or more likely to get in trouble with the criminal justice system. And so figuring out interventions they are reading at grade level at third grade they are more likely to graduate. We want to make sure we concentrate on reading skills at that level. The interest and involvement has surprised even me. People have been really generous and stepped up to the plate. And the nba is participating. Some of you watching the games may have seen some of the ad of some of the players talking directly to the tv screen saying to young people they matter. I just want to commend them for the great work they are doing on that front. Commissioner silber has been very good on it. So we appreciate it. All right. Lets see. Young lady way in the back right there. Hold on one second, though. Wait for the microphone. I want to get this right, so i am going to read it off. President obama you do not have to talk that fast. You are just a little nervous. A little bit. I am a junior at my high school, cochairing a bipartisan event to help engage High School Students in our political process. What do you do to attract High School Students and get them more engaged in our countrys politics . President obama i love Young Leaders like this, juniors in high school taking an interest. [applause] make sure one of our volunteers gets what is your name again . Isabel . Ok, lets get isabels email and maybe i will send her a note to kickoff the event next year. [applause] one of the big challenges we have in this country is the lack of civic engagement. The lack of participation. In the last election, only about of the third people who were eligible to vote voted, a third. And, you know, u. S. You have elections that take place in ukraine, where they are in the middle of a war and their participation rates are 60 . And here, with all the blessings that we have got, the notion that only a third of us would vote that are eligible does not make any sense. And so it starts at a young age. And i think the most important thing is, in any bipartisan event like that, is to help young people understand that politics is not some sideshow in washington. It is not some cable chatter yakking, arguing. It is how we, together, as a community, make decisions about our priorities. What do we think is important . When you are a junior in high school, if you are like malia if you decide you and your friends are going out, you have got to make all kinds of decisions about, where are we going to eat . What movie do you want to see . You take votes, and you are trying to figure out maybe one of your friends does not have enough money, and we have to chip in to help make sure she can go to. Too. The same thing is true for a country. We have got to make priorities, got to make decisions. Are we going to invest in schools . Are we going to make sure that when you graduate you can afford to go to college . Are we going to make sure we are investing in the research that creates new medicines that will help cure cancer or parkinsons disease . Are we going to make sure we are treating our veterans the way they need to be treated when they come home . How are we going to pay for that . Who is going to pay for that . Are we going to make sure we are passing on an environment with clean air and clean water . And how are we going to do that . How are we going to balance that with making sure that we are growing and economy, so when you graduate from college, there is a job for you . Those are all the things that that politics determines. So i think, more than anything, just helping young people understand that this stuff matters to them, and that government is not something separate from you it is you. In a democracy, it is you that makes these decisions. And then making sure you got good pizza at the event is also important. [laughter] all right. Who is next . Young man right here. [laughter] thank you. Thank you. I am first, i want to say thank you for the things you are doing and going to do for our nation. Secondly [applause] president obama thank you. Mark my name is mark kelly. My question is, what is the criteria and the requirements for this plan you are trying to propose . President obama for which plan . Mark for two years. President obama of college. You would have to maintain at least a 2. 5 average. So we are not going to there is no such thing as a completely free lunch. We want to reward people who are making the effort. Because one of the problems we have, when it comes to college education, is that young people are not graduating fast enough. They are dragging things out too long. That just adds costs. And even if they are taking out loans, it is technically they are paying for it. The problem is that the more expensive it gets, the more likely it may be that they can pay it back. What we are saying is, you have got to earn it. You have got to have a 2. 5 average. You have to maintain attendance. You have to stay on a schedule and have a game plan at the frontend so you graduate on time. There would be special circumstances like illness or what have you. The point is, this is not, you get two years of free goofing off. This is to help you achieve your goals. But that means you have to put in the effort. That would be the main criteria. All right. Yes, right here. Hold on a second. The mic is coming. My name is Christine Lee vickers. I am a veterans from a veteran from the u. S. Army. And i am a member of the collegiate veteran association. President obama which branch were u. N. . I was a mechanic. Veterans get use the g. I. Bill. They also get rehab if they are underemployed or use their g. I. Bill, or if they were a cold war veteran, they never got that. How does this affect a veteran cloth use of education . Veterans today are dealing with unemployment rates higher than other people. They are dealing with unemployment altogether. And what is really important is getting a veteran who is dealing with posttraumatic stress or other problems to get an education and have people who understand the fact that they have issues, but at the same time, they have benefits they have earned and paid for through blood and tears. President obama first of all, thank you for your service. We are proud of you. [applause] for those who qualify under the post9 11 g. I. Bill, you are already supposed to be getting the benefits that you have earned. And so nothing would change about that program. As you point out, it is not just College Tuition that is often a burden on our veterans. So i am very proud of the fact that i have increased veterans funding more than any Administration Since i have been in office. And a lot of it is focused on some of the challenges you talk about. For example we made it much easier for veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder to qualify under disability claims. We expanded significantly the number of Mental Health facilities that were available. We set up, for example, special programs for women veterans, because they have differing medical needs, through the v. A. System. Another example that is really important is, we have been working with states and local governments around issues of licensing. So you said you were a mechanic. There may be, in a lot of states, licensing requirements for you to be a mechanic, or to be ems officer, or to be a nurse. And what we were finding was i still remember, i had a conversation with a guy in minnesota when i first came into office. It was in a little diner sitting down. He had just come back from iraq. He had two or three tours in iraq. And you can imagine what the emergency medic in iraq was dealing with in 2006 and 2007. He decided he wanted to make a career as a nurse. He was having to come back and start with nursing 101. I mean, he had to start from scratch, as if he did not have this incredible wealth of experience and skill. And so we set out to work with state legislators and cities and others that oftentimes are responsible for licensing, to say, there has got to be transferability and credit for the incredible work that veterans do on the job, so that they do not have to start all over again and take a whole bunch of new classes just to get certified on stuff they already know how to do. And that has been really helpful as well. [applause] the key now is to get more employers to recognize the skills of our veterans. So michelle and jill biden through their joining forces program, have been able to recruit companies all across the country, major corporations like honeywell and Smaller Companies to not just do job fairs, but make concrete commitments. We are going to hire a certain number of military spouses. And hundreds of thousands of pro folks have come through these programs. The challenge we have still got is that we have got to find ways for veterans to upgrade their skills through this process. And that is where things like apprenticeships, so that folks are not just getting hired at the bottom rungs, but have the opportunity to maybe, in at a higher wage or a higher salary. We have to tie together the education process with the hiring process. Sure. [indiscernible] president obama right. [indiscernible] saying if you and a veteran have the same qualifications [indiscernible] i feel like that is somewhat fair, because they put their lives on the line for our country. And they are taking this job [indiscernible] do you agree with that . President obama i am always careful about not agreeing with bills that i have not read, because that is how i get into trouble. But if there are any state legislators here, this young lady is going to be very interested in talking to you. And the [indiscernible] president obama well, there you go. [applause] that is your representative. Your senator is hard at work. But i think the basic concept of making sure that we are crediting the work that is done by veterans is really important. The sacrifices that not just veterans, but their families make our incredible. And i am proud to say that we do much better now than we did in the past. When you read about the vietnam era, it is just heartbreaking how veterans were treated when they came home. I think we as a society and this has been bipartisan have really improved. But we still have a lot more work to do. So the Veterans Health system, for example, is far better now than it was 30 years ago or 20 years ago. The monster but better. But as we saw, remember, in phoenix, there are still situations where the wait times are too long. Veterans are really satisfied once they get in the system, by getting the initial appointment is often too tough. There is too much bureaucracy, too much red tape. We have to constantly keep at this and constantly keep improving it. We have no end in both the afghan war. We got millions of people, in terms of the combat role [applause] we have hundreds of thousands of folks who are coming home, and they are going to need help making this transaction transition. We still have folks in harms way, dealing with iso, as well as helping to train the iraqi and afghan armies. They are still on rotation. Their families are still missing them. They are missing birthdays and soccer games. It is a big sacrifice. Thanks for the question and thanks for your service. We have a gentleman lets see. A good question to choose from. He has got a veterans hat on which makes me more biased toward him. This is an example of are you when to ask another veterans question . Ok, right here. Mr. President , thank you for coming and thanks for taking my question. I am chris bolin, the Student Government president. I represent the students in the central region, for ivy tech. We could use a tax credit for books. The costs on the books are running away. We need some help in that area. And then the same thing with advisers. We really need advisers that know the classes that we need, to look at the skills we already have in our life and say, have you thought about looking at the approach in a different way . We really need some help from the federal government in those areas. President obama i think that is a great point. First of all i should have mentioned at the outset, when michelle and i when we got married, in addition to the bonds of love, we had the bonds of debt. Our network net worth was negative because we had all these Student Loans. Basically, for the first 10 years of our marriage, we paid more in Student Loan Repayment than we did in our mortgage. And since we both went to law school, we both remember well the cost of books. And for those and then i taught in a law school, so i remember having to assign books. I actually cheated a little bit and put together these syllabi where i would the rocks tough off. Xerox stuff off. Make it a little cheaper for folks. That is not always possible. Nothing is worse than when a professor assigns their own book. [laughter] because then you know they are getting over it. You know, the book costs are enormous. They are real. One of the advantages of the twoyear free College Tuition plan that does not include room and board and books. But what that does is, it frees up your ability to use spell grants or other programs for books, right . So it would relieve some of those costs, Living Expenses and transportation and all that stuff. School still would not be perfectly free, but you would now have the budget to manage that. With respect to advisers, i think this is a great point. We are starting at the high school level. Michelle just had an event to celebrate counselors, and she had Connie Britton remember, she played a counselor in friday night lights. You all watch that show . That was a good show. She came to speak. It was celebrating the role of counselors and high schools. The same is true in Community Colleges with advisers. A lot of young people have a general idea of what they want to do, but do not always know the path to get there. Do not know what the requirements are. Do not know what classes they should be taking. One of the big problems that drives a College Costs is, young people start down one path, they get about halfway through it. They realize, that is the thing i am more interested in, over there. They switch, but all those credits they took now are wasted , and they have to start all over again. That extends greatly the amount of time it takes to graduate. Having more counselors and investors on the front end and set being a good investment for the system overall. I have not talked to your president here. About how schools are currently budgeting advisers. Certainly, this is something we are interested in. We are going to want to partner with Community College is an public universities, as well as with high schools, to see what more work we can do on that front. So good suggestion. That is why you got elected president. Absolutely. All right. [applause] it is the young ladies turn, right here, right in the middle. Good afternoon. My name is dana phillips. My question is, with the focus being on twoyear Community College is right now, what focused as your administration have for historically black colleges and universities, for students outside of indiana where they may choose to attend these institutions with such dire straits that many of them are facing right now . President obama we have some outstanding historically black colleges and universities. We have some universities that historically served primarily latino students, who do a great job as well. Many of those schools, because of their Critical Role in serving underrepresented communities under federal legislation get additional dollars to help with infrastructure and maintain their faculties and so forth. Many of the problems those schools face are the ones every other school faces. Which is rising tuition, students taking out too much debt, Graduation Rates that are too low. We are working with them on this common set of problems. I will say this. There are some historically black colleges and universities that are not doing a good job with Graduation Rates. And so one of the things we are doing is, we are saying to schools of all stripes that we are going to develop some measures so that parents and students can know ahead of time how those schools are performing so that we can increase consumer education. Because what i dont want to do is to have the federal government pay for a hell grant for Student Loans, and you go to a school where they are taking that money, you are getting into debt, but your Graduation Rate is low, which means you may end up leaving without a degree. Q now are on the hook for this debt. If you cant pay it, taxpayers have to pay for it. That is a problem. So what we are doing is, those schools that are doing outstanding jobs serving underrepresented if communities we are going to give them some extra help. Schools that are not doing a good job, we are saying to them, we are going to give you the training to get better. But at a certain point, if you dont get better, we are going to start advertising the fact that your Graduation Rates are too low. We have got to have some accountability in this overall process. All right . Good. The gentleman right here. There you go. In the spiffy gray jacket. Frank you have been our leader for six years. You have two years left. What would be your number one priority, and what can we help you do to accomplish that . President obama i appreciate that. My number one priority is to make sure that the american peoples wages and incomes are going up since right now the stock market is going up, corporate profits are at an alltime high, corporate Balance Sheet have never been better in history that is not according to me. That is according to bloomberg and fortune map fortune magazine, not generally my big promoters. So they are doing well. And the question now is, the folks who work in those companies, how do we get them more income and more wages . That cannot happen if the economy does not grow. First and foremost, we have got to keep this growth going. One of the worries that we are going to have this year the economy is doing well. The problem is, overseas, the economies are not doing so well. Europe is not doing well. China is slowing down, because they are transitioning. That is having some impact on our exports. So if we want to keep the progress that is going on right now, the best thing we can do is to make the investments i talked about in the state of the union to create more growth and demand here in the United States. I will be very specific this time, what you can help on. Infrastructure. We know we have about 2 trillion worth of deferred maintenance we need to do in this country bridges that are unsafe, sewer mains that are bursting. Airports that are out of date. We have got an air Traffic Control system that does not take advantage of new technologies. If we put in place a new stateoftheart air Traffic Control system, it is estimated that airlines could save 30 on their fuel costs, because they would not be hovering around, trying to wait to land. That means 30 less pollution from fuel. It means we could cut delays by about 30 which i know everybody here who has flown lately would really appreciate. It would be good for business. And the good thing about infrastructure is, you cannot export those jobs. They have to be done here. By American Workers. And then those American Workers have more money in their pocket. They go to the restaurant nearby, and the restaurant is doing a little better, so they fire a couple more ships. You get this virtuous cycle. And traditionally, that has been a bipartisan issue. So if we can get republican representatives and senators and democratic representatives and senators here in indiana if you guys can push them to say, lets go ahead and move forward on an Infrastructure Program i know the mayor would not mind doing it, right . And convince them that keeps the economy growing overall. But then there are also some things that i want to do more directly for middleclass families. That has to do with this tax system. As i mentioned before, there was a young woman i talked about at the state of the union. Wonderful family. Two little boys. One of them is schoolage. One of them is still too young in preschool. Their childcare is more than tuition at the university of minnesota, or at least close. We are the only advanced nation on earth that does not provide support to families when their kids are really young. And does not invest in making sure that our child system works the way it should. I put forth an initiative that says, lets consolidate and make more helpful a tax credit for child care. Lets boost the quality of childcare, so that parents have confidence when theyre putting their kids someplace that the teachers there are trained, and they are getting good Early Childhood education. Lets get more slots. That is something that is concretely helping families right now. And by the way it is not just the poor family that has trouble here. There are a lot of folks who we do not consider middleclass who have the same problem. It is just hard, especially now that the typical middleclass family, they got two breadwinners. Folks both have to work in order to succeed. And we know how to do this. My grandfather, when he went away to war, fighting patents pattons army in europe, my grandmother stayed home. She was rosie the riveter, working on an Assembly Line for bombers. In this country and this country provided childcare because they knew it was a necessity. If women were in the workforce you needed to have some of the looking after those kids. It is not that we have no experience doing this. We just need to do a good job. Paid sick leave, for example. We have got 43 million americans who do not have paid sick leave. We are like the only country in the industrialized world that does not provide paid sick leave. People will get sick. The idea that in a society like ours, we would force people to choose between leaving a sick child at home, for example, or giving up a days pay that does not make any sense. The way hoosiers can help, the way folks all across america can help, is to let folks in congress know, these things are important. If, as i said before, republicans in congress mitch mcconnell, john boehner, and the leadership there if they disagree with how i am paying for a bigger childcare tax credit, if they disagree with how i plan to pay for infrastructure, if they do not want to raise or close loopholes on the top 1 , or go after some of these loopholes that send profits overseas if they do not want to do it that way, then they should show me another way. Your voice, letting them know this is important, not because it is partisan, but because it is the right thing to do for america if they hear that from enough people, it will make a difference. It goes back to what that young lady asked about, isabel. I got a good memory. It goes back to what isabel is saying. Our system only works when people are involved. When people are involved and informed, taking the time to ask questions and their opinions be known, ultimately, the government will respond. When nobody is saying anything, the government does not respond and you get the government we have seen lately in washington which is unresponsive and were not doing enough. You have got to be informed. I am so optimistic about this country. The reason we have gotten out of this recession over the last six years is, in part i am going to go ahead and brag a little bit. We have made some good decisions. We made some decisions that saved the auto industry, some decisions to stabilize the financial system, decisions to help local government keep their teachers on the payroll and not lay them off. We made a bunch of decisions to do infrastructure spending. And all of that helped lift us out of the recession we are in. But the main reason was because people worked hard in the private sector and small businesses. They tightened their belts and they made sacrifices and pay down debt, and dug themselves out of holes. The resilience and the great and the basic decency of the american people, and our willingness to work hard, our innovation, our willingness to take risks it puts us in such a good position. I travel all around the world. I know the economies of every country in the world. I know their problems. I know their advantages. People talk about china. They talk about germany. They talk about india. Nobody has got a better [indiscernible] then we do, if we make decisions together. Someone said about america, we always end up doing the right thing after we have tried everything else. I am hoping that we do not have to try every other thing before we do the right thing right now to help middleclass families get ahead. If we do that, the economy is going to be stronger. Businesses are going to do better. Consumers are going to be more confident. We will sell more goods overseas. Our kids will have the kind of future we want for them. That is what i am going to be working on for the next two years. I hope you help me. Thank you, everybody. [applause] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2015] announcer president obama talking about his plan to provide two years of frick amenity college Free Community college. Jill stein, the Green Party Nominee announcing her decision to seek the nomination again in 2016. Here is a brief look at her remarks. Dr. Stein record low voter turnout reflected profound disillusionment with both parties, so 2016 provides an Incredible Opportunity to fill that political vacuum and surge forward. The voices of resistance and transformation deserve to be heard loud and clear. And that is why i am announcing today the formation of an Exploratory Committee for the 2016 president ial elections. Www. Cspan. Org [applause] we will use this Exploratory Campaign to reach out to young people, to workers, employed underemployed, and discouraged. To frontline communities. To immigrants. Two communities of color. We will reach out to women and seniors, indigenous nations, the lgbt community, and all who have been neglected, abandoned, or betrayed by the democrat and republican parties. [applause] and we will offer a campaign in service of the justice they deserve. The green party can do this because we are the only National Party that is not poisoned by corporate money. The only one. [applause] announcer as you can see on your screen, the flag over the capital today at half staff on the news that they republican representative has died. He was serving his third term. Underwent brain surgery back in june. Had been in and out of hospitals and Rehabilitation Centers over the past year. Earlier this week, fcc chairman tom wheeler announced his proposal to regulate the internet like a utility, an idea president obama has also endorsed. The chairmans plan would strengthen the fccs regulation of the internet, extend the rules to mobile phones and devices, and allow the fcc to step in and address interconnection issues as they arise. They would also ban on fast and slow lanes for delivery of content over the internet. The proposal would be presented to the other fcc commissioners debate. A vote on Net Neutrality is set for february 20 six. Service providers like comcast verizon, and at t, as well as Republican Leaders in congress, have strongly opposed such regulation. Jordin a saturday for a special presentation of the communicators, when we go in depth on the chairmans announcement. Gigi stone will talk about the proposed new rules to ensure Net Neutrality. That is starting at 6 30 p. M. Eastern. Announcer to here are some of our featured programs. On book tv saturday night at 10 00, the Washington Bureau chief for the times of london on british efforts in 2009 to stop the taliban advance in afghanistan, while awaiting u. S. Marine reinforcement. And sunday at 10 00, the Senior Editor at noble house books on the porch and why his company decided to publish it. And a cspan3, interviews with former korean war pows. This sunday at 10 and eastern an Army Sergeant who was captured by the chinese and held as a pow from 1950 through 1953. Just after 9 00, a look back at selma and the Voting Rights act 50 years later, with Eleanor Holmes norton and bill plante. You can find our complete Television Schedule cspan. Org. And let us know what you think about the programs you are watching. Call us, email us, or send us a tweet. Join the cspan conversation. Like us on facebook. Follow us on twitter. The Defense Department and National Intelligence officials testify before the Senate Armed Services Committee Thursday about the teacher of the Guantanamo Bay prison and u. S. Detention policy. Republican senator john mccain of arizona chairs the committee and Rhode Islands jack reed is the ranking member. This is just under two hours. Senator mccain, the chairman, has asked me to call the hearing to order. He is currently, along with many of our colleagues, at the National Prayer breakfast. That is not finishing as promptly as they anticipated. As such, what im going to do is ask unanimous consent that senator mccains Opening Statement be submitted and my statement be submitted to the record and at this time, call on the panel for their testimony. When the testimony is concluded we will begin a round of questioning. With that, mr. Rasmussen, are you prepared to go first . Or is it secretary mccann . Go ahead, mr. Secretary. Thank you very much, senator reid. Members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today on the Detention Center on Guantanamo Bay. Our policies on retaining detainees and related issues. On january 22, 2009, president obama signed executive order 13492, which ordered the closure of the Detention Center of Guantanamo Bay, cuba. Pursuant to that order a task force was established to broadly review information in the possession of the u. S. Government about the did sammys about the detainees and determine the possibility of their release. Through that rigorous effort, a certain number of detainees were approved for transfer and review and a certain number for continued detention. Since then, pursuant to the executive order signed on march 2011, consistent with section 1023 of the nda for fiscal 2012 a periodic review board has begun to review the status of those detainees not currently eligible for transfer except for those against whom charges are pending or judgment of conviction has been entered. When the president came into office six years ago, there were 242 detainees at Guantanamo Bay. Today, because of the task force and subsequent efforts, 122 detainees remain. Of these, 54 are eligible for transfer. 10 are being prosecuted or have been sentenced, and 58 are being reviewed by the periodic review process. In his nearly two years as secretary, secretary hagel has approved the transfer of detainees, 11 of whom were transferred, 28 transferred last year, and five transferred this year. The great majority of these transfers authorized by the secretary occurred under the authorities of section 1035 of the ndaa for fiscal 14. We urge you to maintain these authorities. Mr. Chairman, members of the committee, i want to make a fundamental point regarding the detention facility at guantanamo. The president has determined that closing it is a National Security imperative. The president and his National Security team believe that the continued operation of the security weakens our National Security by draining resources damaging our relationships with key allies, and is used by violent extremists to incite local populations. It is no coincidence the recent isis videos showing the barbaric burning of a jordan pilot and savage execution of a japanese hostage each show the victims clothed in an orange jumpsuit believed by many to be the symbol of a guantanamo detention facility. 40 retired military leaders, all retired general or flag officers, wrote this to the Committee Last week and stated it is hard to oversay it how the continuing existence of the detention facility at guantanamo has been and continues to be. It is a critical National Security issue. Many of us have been told by our friends in countries around the world the greatest action the United States can take to fight terrorism is to close Guantanamo Bay. This letter is signed by retired general charles kulak, retired commandant of the marine corps and the first commanding general of the task force at guantanamo. Many leaders encourage closing and 37 other retired senior military leaders. Many other military leaders encourage closing of the facility including general dempsey and admiral mullen. In 2010 general petraeus stated ive been on the record well , over a year stating guantanamo should be closed. And i think when ever we have taken expedient measures, it has turned around and beaten us on the backside. Senior figures across the political spectrum have made clear guantanamo proposes risks to our National Security and should be closed. Former secretary gates and pennetta and current secretary hagel all support closure of guantanamo. Finally, president george w. Bush concluded the guantanamo detention facility was a propaganda tool for our enemies and distraction for our allies. I will briefly address some of the letters raised by the letter of invitation. 27 detainees have been transferred since november 2014. These detainees have been transferred to nine different countries. Key features of the process that leads to a decision to transfer include a comprehensive inner Agency Review and rigorous examination of information regarding the detainee and the security situation of the host country and willingness to implement and maintain appropriate compliance of security measures. Those reviews were conducted by career professionals across the government. Next, any transfer decision requires assessment of the security situation in the receiving country and willingness and capability of that country to comply with security assurances. We also have the ic look at that issue. Finally, each decision to transfer has been subject to unanimous agreement of six principals secretary of state, secretary of homeland security, director of National Intelligence, attorney general chairman of the joint chiefs and finally secretary of defense. Under section 1035 of the nda they decide if it is in the action of the United States and if actions plan to be taken to substantial substantially reduce the risk of the terrorist engaging in terrorist or hostile activity that threatens the United States or u. S. Primary interests. U. S. Persons or interests. The primary concern we have regarding a potential transfer is whether the detainee will return to the fight. Or otherwise reengage in acts of terrorism or acts that threaten u. S. Persons. We take the possible of reengagement very seriously. The most recent public data on reengagement of former detainees was released last september, and the data is current as of july 2014. There is a lag in the public reporting. I know you may have seen a more recent classified report on this matter. The office of the director of National Intelligence categories categorizes the figures in three ways